A thoughtful guy starting conversations we should be having

Agree or Disagree: Society has lost respect for the Police.

We all remember the outrage towards the Toronto Police with their actions towards 18 year old Sammy Yatim. He was, of course the young men police shot 9 times in a Toronto streetcar on Friday July 26.

During that time, I was in Montreal and there is a story I’d like to share with you about an incident there that leads to our question today.

It was the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal. St. Catherine Street was alive with people enjoying the pleasant night. I was walking towards my hotel on St. Denis street when I heard the sirens of the Police. It turns out, they were chasing a cyclist.

It took about 6 cops to finally complete the arrest. Some could argue that they were rough on the guy. However, others would argue he was arrested. As you would expect, the crowd stopped to watch the man be arrested and apprehended. Videos and pictures were being taken of the incident. This also led to many people sarcastically calling “Police Brutality”.

I also overheard a conversation from someone in English say that they cops are rather unimpressive in Montreal. He used words I would rather not repeat.

The two stories in Toronto and the one I saw in Montreal leads me to a question that I think is fair to ask.

Have we lost respect for our police? Have our perceptions over the years changed from an establishment we respect to one that acts often out of line?